Is it the job for me?

Do you want to make a difference to someone’s life?

Personal Assistants in Care (PAs) make a massive difference to the lives of the people they support. You will usually be able to focus directly on supporting one person and help them live a good life.

Do you want a unique role with flexibility and variety?

The role and tasks will be varied, and the hours can be more flexible than a regular 9-5 – all depending on what the individual employer needs. The PA role can help you gain experience that might be useful for your ambitions for the future, or hours and location that work well with other commitments in your life.

While it has a lot in common with other roles in social care or health care, it also can be unique in terms of the variety of things you might get involved with. The person you support might like some of the same activities as you, or need support to do things that you are naturally good at, such as getting to know new people, or sports. No two jobs are the same as they are so individual to the person you are supporting. If you are a good match with your employer, your job can be a good fit for your interests and personality.

Are you good at developing relationships?

In common to all PA roles is the need to be respectful of the fact that you are supporting someone to live the life that they choose - they are your boss! The ability to build up a good trusting relationship is common to all PA roles, and to have really clear communication and expectations of what is required of you.

To explore more about whether this sounds like a role that suits you, visit the A Question of Care website (opens in a new window) and select Ben’s role (the PA role) and do the quiz!

Anyone can potentially become a PA. To find out more about different people who have become PAs, and what the role means to them, visit Stories from Personal Assistants in Care.